The triumph of logical English is a short presentation by Henry Oliver (read by Stuart Ritchie) arguing that modern English prose readability has improved significantly, and that shorter sentences played little part; the episode uses images and graphs to support the claim and directs listeners to the full article and visuals on Works in Progress (published 2026-04-24).
Henry Oliver argues that English prose has become much easier to read, but the improvement is not mainly due to shorter sentences.
English prose has become much easier to read. But shorter sentences had little to do with it. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-logical-triumph-of-english/
And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co
Words by Henry Oliver
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett
Channel: Works in Progress
Published: 2026-04-24
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoJI6txEBQY